Faster Catamarans have a much less comfortable ride

[Roshni]

I know some people have gone round in circles buy I vote for lighter performance cat over heavier cat. I am moving to one after having lighter 46 ft monohull which I felt gave me the same benefits as mentioned in the posts
Let us know what you decide.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by smj

The cat we have now is 40’ long with a 25’ beam, has a LWL/BWL ratio of about 14:1 and comes in at about 6700 lbs., probably one of the faster 40-50’ cats around. The motion on her is by far the best of all the cats we’ve owned.
I remember an old surveyor telling me about the “magic carpet” ride where a cat would tiptoe from wave top to wave top. This is as close as I’ve felt to that.

Sure about that weight? That would put you at not a lot over my 27 ft c&c

[smj]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Sure about that weight? That would put you at not a lot over my 27 ft c&c

Positive

[Sand crab]

Yup, His TRT 1200 is a light one.
TRT 1200 GT and TRT 1200 CR Catamaran - Windcraft - Corsair Trimarans and Other Fine Multihulls

[smj]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

Yup, His TRT 1200 is a light one.
TRT 1200 GT and TRT 1200 CR Catamaran - Windcraft - Corsair Trimarans and Other Fine Multihulls

After spending the afternoon cleaning and waxing parts of the TRT I walked away amazed at how this lightweight engineered structure has held up over the last 20 years.
The original owner raced her hard for the first 18 years, crossing the Gulf Of Mexico at least a couple of times, one time hitting over 26 knots. She’s suffered 2 direct lightning strikes and flipped once, yet I’ve only come across one very small stress crack in her gel coat.
Kudos to a well designed and well built lightweight engineered structure.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by smj

After spending the afternoon cleaning and waxing parts of the TRT I walked away amazed at how this lightweight engineered structure has held up over the last 20 years.
The original owner raced her hard for the first 18 years, crossing the Gulf Of Mexico at least a couple of times, one time hitting over 26 knots. She’s suffered 2 direct lightning strikes and flipped once, yet I’ve only come across one very small stress crack in her gel coat.
Kudos to a well designed and well built lightweight engineered structure.

And the beautiful thing is, much heavier construction isn't needed because the loads aren't crazy because she's light.

An example of a good design spiral.

Cool boat. What sort of amenities do you have on her? Tankage? Luxuries? (Added weight?). Or are you running her lean?

[smj]

Originally Posted by Chotu

And the beautiful thing is, much heavier construction isn't needed because the loads aren't crazy because she's light.

An example of a good design spiral.

Cool boat. What sort of amenities do you have on her? Tankage? Luxuries? (Added weight?). Or are you running her lean?

Your right. I’m guessing I can sail at the same speeds as the heavier 40’ cats just using a 100% jib while they have full sail up. Less stress on the structure and less stress on the crew.
Trying to run her lean but definitely over racing weight!
We hold 50 gallons of water and about the same in gasoline for the twin outboards. 640 watts of solar and portable refer and freezer. Lightweight Porta Bote and a 2.5hp Suzuki, and the luxury is a Honda 2000 generator!
She is a very comfortable layout and great ventilation for the tropics. Also a very easy boat to sail with unbelievable visibility and all lines led to the helm.
She wouldn’t make a great marina live aboard especially in the winter as we have done that!

[Training Wheels]

Great boat! Was on our short list, but none available when we were looking.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by smj

Kudos to a well designed and well built lightweight engineered structure.

It's amazing what can be achieved in a light boat when it's done right

[dwightsusan]

A voice of experience specific to the OP question: At 79, I have been a lifelong sailor (active since 10y/o). Up until 2001 my experience was exclusively with relatively high performance racing oriented monohulls. In 2001 we launched our custom locally built very high performance cruising catamaran (47' x 28' x 1.5', 13,000#+/-). We have sailed widely in the Gulf, in the Bahamas, all around Florida, down to Mexico, and up the East Coast, out of our South Texas base. We have been offering "six-pack" charters out of Port Aransas, Texas, for two years, and frequently venture into near coastal waters of the Gulf. We typically make 12-15 knots to windward, 15+ knots on a reach, and have sustained 23 knots offshore (all speeds noted are without clients on board). Our motion is significantly less comfortable than a monohull, often sharp and snappy, especially in the typical 3'-5' short period waves of the Western Gulf. The uncomfortable ride significantly inhibits near coastal charters as perhaps 50% of our clients have severe motion sickness. This is not typical of our friends and colleagues in heavier stock low performance cruising catamarans. Boats, sail and otherwise, are all compromises. In catamarans you only get one or two out of three, low cost, high performance, creature comfort. For me, I prefer a three day Gulf crossing with modest discomfort to a week+ in comfort, with the added benefit of being able to outflank almost all frontal systems.

[lo2jones]

Wow, Having sailed on both light and fast, and heavier and slower cats (which are that slow) one of the biggest issues is the waves slamming under the bridge deck. And yes, faster lighter cruising cats are much noisier. Some builders have tried to design a bridge deck shape that dampens this, but it’s still pretty loud. I’m not a nautical engineer, but I have a good set of ears...a little bigger than I’d like, but...

[Pillroller]

Nobody seems to have grasped the inherent difference. Cats have two hulls, I had atri with Three. When aaswell or wave comes from the side the firsy hull goes up then the second (and third). This is totally different to a monohull that just rolls. Cats don't roll. You do get used to it. It is just a much faster twitchy feeling. Being much lighter they do pitch quicker as one person said, less inertia.

[Lightwave99]

We have a catamaran and when the wind gets up enjoy sailing her up to 12kts. If you mean those catamarans they use to do the Vendee Globe and so on (and I don't think you are), it would not only be rough but scary. They have to wear goggles, they go so fast. Why, exactly, do you need a high-performance cat? Cats are very stable and comfortable. We played Mexican Train Dominos every day but one crossing from Hawaii to Canada. We solved the "hobby horsing" by extending our hulls 4 feet. Then recently another 5. See our website at Time For a Catamaran Adventure – Isn't Time For Yours?. Good luck! Cats are definitely the way to go!

[Rimica]

After crossing the Atlantic in winds from 10 to 35 knots and waves from 1 to 5 meters, I was surprised by the noise level in my cat. It was a surprise but got used to it. The height of the underbelly of the cat is important. I can drive my dinghy under mine, which is higher than most, and slamming was present still.


On the other hand we did good time. I suspect the heavier cat may be more comfortable in going downwind. Upwind we go faster point higher and therefore spend less time in this less comfortable direction.

[Bangorang]

Every boat has a sweet spot for the given conditions. Our FP42 was very comfortable reaching at 7-8 kts. We could easily push it up to 9-10 kts, but it was hard on us and the boat, so why bother? Running deep in different conditions, 10 kts felt smooth as glass.

At sea, we tended to reef the main early and use roller reefing on the jib like a throttle to find the sweet spot. On a 3 week passage, comfort becomes a priority.